1) Young Muslims - The Message

Ibn Hajr offers the following observations about this hadith: "Thefact that he went to the women separately shows that the womenwere assembled separately from the men and were not mixed inwith them." [Fath al-Bari (2/466)]7. Once the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) saw menand women mixing together on the road upon their departure fromthe mosque. He said to the women: "Hold back a bit. You do nothave to walk in the middle of the road. You may keep to the sides."The narrator of the Hadith commented that after that time, womenwould come so close to the buildings that their dresses wouldsometime cling to the walls." [Sunan Abi Dawud with a sound chainof transmission]Ibn 'Umar related that the Prophet (Blessings and Peace be uponhim) said about one of the mosque's doors: "We should leave thisdoor exclusively for women to use." Ibn 'Umar, until he died, neveragain entered through that door. [Sunan Abi Dawud with a soundchain of transmission. Al-Albani says: "This Hadith is authenticaccording to the conditions set down by Bukhari and Muslim."]Umm Salamah said: "When the Prophet (Blessings and Peace beupon him) completed the prayer, the women would get up to leave.He would then wait a while before standing." Ibn Shahab said: "Ibelieve that he waited for a while to give the women anopportunity to depart before the men." [Sahih al-Bukhari]Ibn Hajr comments: "In the Hadith, we see that it is disliked for menand women to mix on the road. How much more, then, should suchmixing be avoided inside of houses." [Fath al-Bari (2/336)]8. It was related in al-Bukhari that women at the time of theProphet (Blessings and Peace be upon him) did not circumambulatethe Ka'bah along with the men. 'A'ishah used to go around theKa'bah at a good distance from the men and avoided mixing withthem. Once another woman bade to her to go forward with her soYoung Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 182